


Family Matters

by IRegretNothingAndEverything



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Abusive Family, Adoptive family, Canon Non-Binary Character, Deceit isn't a good person, M/M, Non-binary character, Other, Technically they aren't an adoptive family so like, Technically they kidnap Remy, and not exist in one bundle of people, does it count if he wants to be kidnapped?, i dunno, they just came together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-07-05 02:57:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15854823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IRegretNothingAndEverything/pseuds/IRegretNothingAndEverything
Summary: Abandoned by family, Virgil Foley finds himself brought in by Logan and Patton Pathgos, a married couple who holds many abandoned and abused children in their homes for safety. Currently housing Talyn and Joan Stokes, a couple being hunted by their families over their genders, Thomas Sanders, a runaway who has big plans for his future, and Roman Prince, a hyperactive actor whose past remains a mystery, Virgil has to somehow navigate the family, find his place, and learn a bit about himself, all while worrying about his little brother, Remy.





	Family Matters

Bag slung over his shoulders, filled with the bare minimum, Virgil Foley shuffled down the street, holding his jacket tightly around his shoulders. The wind picked up more as night fell, and Virgil shivered, glancing down the street behind him, hoping to be picked up once more. That small glimmer of hope was shattered every time only the darkness of the road met his eyes. 

There was no one to blame but himself, Virgil thought. If only he could be normal, if only he hadn’t said anything to his dumb family, he’d be in bed, not really warm or happy, but safe, out of the streets, and now, just because he couldn’t keep his stupid mouth shut-

“Hey, what are you doing on the street?” The voice didn’t sound cruel, or angry, in fact it sounded kind, but Virgil panicked, bolting down the street, bag bouncing against his hip as he ran, barely able to breathe before he even started running. There were headlights against his back, how had he not noticed them approaching, he was gonna get kidnapped, no one was even gonna know he was gone-

Virgil threw himself into a ditch, just to get away, rolling down to hide in the brush, panting softly. He had panicked, and now his ankle and his wrist ached. Still, the car passed him, lights dimming as it went by, and Virgil finally gave himself the chance to breathe. Standing hurt, and, when examining his ankle, he found it to be sprained, but he had no choice but to walk on it. 

Panic had screwed him over so many times before, and yet Virgil still listened to the impulses it brought, something he knew was dumb. 

The lights were coming back, and Virgil ducked down in pure panic, without a thought. He lifted his head slightly to watch the car pass, only to have it pull next to the ditch. He scrambled back, breath lost in his throat, staring as the door popped open and… 

This man looked legitimately worried for him, eyebrows creased as he looked around. The back door popped open as well, and another person slipped out, a bright orange beanie covering their head. 

“Patton, he could be long gone by now.” 

“But, Joan! He was alone, and if he isn’t gone it won’t hurt to look to help him, would it?” The newly-named Patton turned to Joan, who huffed softly, nodding, calling back into the car. 

“Talyn, Logan, lets go. Pop’s not gonna give up on the kid.” There was a sigh, and another slid out of the back seat, staring around. 

Virgil stared, slowly realizing just how… caring this Patton was. He was looking around already, and Virgil almost wanted to show himself to the man, but something held him back a moment. Virgil knew, however, that he wouldn’t be able to get away a second time, and, thus, as another rounded the front of the car, Virgil huffed loudly, hoping it would be enough so that he wouldn’t have to speak. 

Patton’s head snapped to the noise, and Virgil regretted it slightly, until Patton was crouching next to him, eyes wide. Virgil had fallen onto his back, and thus was propped up on his one arm, aching wrist clutched against his body, sprained ankle stretched out. 

“Hey there, kiddo.” His voice was soft, kind, a loving voice, and Virgil relaxed slightly, still tense as hell, staring suspiciously at Patton, not taking the hand he held out. “Come on, kiddo, gotta get you up.” Patton stood, and Virgil reached out with his good wrist, pulling himself up and wincing when he stood on his sprained ankle. 

Patton narrowed his eyes slightly, then ducked under Virgil’s arm, calling for Joan to take his bag. Joan held out his hand for it, but Virgil refused to give it up, glaring slightly, and Joan backed down, ducking back to the other two. 

“Logan, hun, is the third seat up?” Logan, the one who had been in the driver’s seat, rounded the car again, opening the back door and starting to push the seat up. They looked a bit familiar, but Virgil couldn’t place exactly why. 

“It is now.” 

“Thank you, love. Joan, take that seat. Kiddo, I’m gonna help you in, alright?” Virgil nodded slowly, chewing the inside of his cheek. Patton smiled reassuringly, and Talyn slid into the middle, ready to brace Virgil on the other side. 

Once he was situated in the car, Patton shut the door on Virgil, popping into the front seat, making sure everyone was buckled in and ready before nodding to Logan, who pulled off onto the road again. 

“So, kiddo…” Virgil flinched slightly, eyes narrowed. He made a soft noise of recognition, and Patton continued. “You don’t need to answer any of their questions when we get back, but I do want to know your name…” 

Virgil looked out the window, sighing softly. “It’s… Virgil.” Patton turned back to smile. 

“Pronouns?” 

Virgil stared at him, tilting his head slightly, so Talyn chimed in. “He’s asking your gender. Like, I’m Talyn, they/them.” 

“Joan, they/them.” 

“Patton, he/him!” 

“Logan, they/them.” 

Virgil stared a moment, considered this a moment, then shrugged a shoulder. “I’ve… been going by he/him, but…” 

“Didn’t know that there were options?” three voices chimed in, as Logan said, “Patton, get back into your seat, you don’t need to face Virgil.” 

Virgil twitched, unsure of how he felt about someone he didn’t really know saying his name, but they saved him, so he couldn’t complain. “I…. guess? I mean, it still fits me, just… getting asked is a little confusing.” He started shutting off, crossing his arms, biting his lip when he wrist bent weird again. 

“Well, I think we can scoot you into Roman’s room. Sorry we don’t have any more open rooms.” Virgil shrugged, thinking back to his old room, with Remy sleeping on the bunk above him, and he tensed slightly, sudden worry coursing through him. He turned to look out the window, hands shaking slightly. 

“Hey,” Talyn murmured, and Virgil turned to them, eyebrows furrowed. “You might be a bit scared, just kicked out or just running away, but Patton’ll take care of you, he’s taken care of all of us. I can kick Joan out into Roman’s room a bit if you’d prefer a quieter area?” 

Virgil shook his head. He was already imposing so much on this family, he didn’t want to tear their room arrangements into hell. He was already imposing on their family too much. 

Talyn shrugged slightly. “Roman is very loud, so the offer is gonna stay open in case you change your mind, alright?” Virgil nodded slightly, watching as Logan pulled into a driveway, the garage door opening when Patton pressed the button. Logan pulled through into the garage, then turned the car off, leaving the doors unlocked. Joan and Talyn got out on one side, and Patton hopped out to help Virgil out. 

Virgil limped along with Patton, getting set up on the couch, his ankle elevated slightly while Patton went to grab an ice pack. During this time, someone came downstairs, while Logan went up, brushing past with a soft “hello.” 

The man approached Virgil, sitting in the chair near the couch. “Thomas. You are?” 

“Virgil,” he mumbled, glad that Patton had returned. Patton busied himself with making sure Virgil was comfortable there, talking softly to Thomas, Virgil clutching his bag close to his chest. 

“Thomas, this is Virgil. He’ll be living with us a bit.” 

“Adopting more strays, yeah?” Thomas grinned at Patton, who smiled fondly to Virgil, a look he was unfamiliar with. 

“I suppose I am. It is one thing I am very good at, trying to make sure everyone is okay…” Patton smiled at Virgil, setting the ice pack on his ankle. 

Virgil looked at Thomas, eyes narrowed slightly, studying him almost. The teen seemed very calm at the moment, a soft smile resting on his lips as he talked with Patton, who was trying to explain what was going to happen with Virgil, including where he would be staying. He knew there was something more turning behind those calm eyes though, and Virgil was rather frightened by the thought. 

Thomas turned to Virgil, and Virgil looked away quickly, not wanting to admit that he had been studying him. It was a habit he had fallen into with his family, and-Remy. He had forgotten about Remy again. With everything going on, he had forgotten his little brother, what kind of person does that? 

“Virgil, kiddo, are you alright?” Virgil came back to himself to see Patton kneeling next to him, worry coated in his eyes. Virgil swallowed thickly and nodded slowly, and, while Patton didn’t seem to believe him, he still allowed it, patting his arm gently. “Okay… You may not want to open up now, but know I’m here if you need it.” There was such sincerity behind Patton’s eyes that Virgil almost teared up. 

“I just… remembered something…” He shook his head slightly. “Nothing I can do about it now… not right now at least…” Patton nodded slowly, fussing over his ankle as Logan walked back downstairs. Logan hummed softly, leaning over and kissing the top of Patton’s head, mumbling something to him, before slipping away again. Soft, easy affection wasn’t something Virgil saw often, and it was very confusing seeing kisses just given out like that. 

Still, Patton just beamed, before standing. “We don’t have a bed for you quite yet, and Roman is already asleep, apparently, so would you mind spending the night on the couch before we get the bed all set up?” 

Virgil smiled slightly, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Sure… I’ll sleep here tonight…” Patton smiled slightly, very gently hugging him, something Virgil tensed at, and didn’t return. 

Patton drew away from the hug quickly, obviously sensing his discomfort, smiling sadly. “You’ll have a bed tomorrow, promise!” Virgil watched as Patton went off, coming back with a soft blue blanket and draping it over him. “Call us if you need anything, me and Logan are the only two on the bottom floor, so we’ll be able to hear you.” He leaned forward as if to hug him again, but stepped away, which Virgil greatly appreciated. 

With that, he was left alone. He didn’t know when Thomas, or even Joan and Talyn had left to their rooms, but now he was alone in some stranger’s home, with a sprained ankle, wrapped up in one of their blankets. 

Virgil sighed, shifting and rolling onto his side, and snuggled into the blanket. He hated this, it was so obviously wrong to be here instead of protecting Remy, but he couldn’t walk down the street without ruining his ankle further, let alone navigate from here to his old home. This was the only place he could be right now, and he supposed that he had to accept it, despite the thousands of different scenarios running through his head at that moment. 

With panic on his mind and pain lacing its way up his leg, Virgil fell asleep on the couch of a too-nice family, prepared for the worst when he woke. 

Virgil woke to find Joan leaning over him, as if checking that he was still asleep, but all Virgil could think was “have they been there all night?” 

With a shout, Joan jumped away, Virgil scrambling up to a sitting position, clutching his bag to his chest again. Joan raised their hands in surrender, taking another careful step away from him. “I do you no harm, frightened child.” 

“Don’t call me that,” he growled, crossing his arms and setting the bag down carefully. 

“Fine, fine. Breakfast is almost ready, but Patton said not to wake you up if you weren’t already. Need some help to the table?” 

“No,” he mumbled, shifting to stand, then wincing as he put pressure on his ankle. It was better than last night, but still ached painfully. Joan huffed, holding out their hand.

“C’mon. Let me help.” Virgil sighed, but took the other’s hand, shifting and pulling himself up. Joan supported part of his weight, leading him into the kitchen.   
There were three seats empty, two next to each other, with Joan on one side of the blank space and Thomas on the other, while the other side of the table had Patton and Logan’s seats, with a spot next to Patton. Joan lead Virgil over to Thomas, helping him settle into the chair next to him. 

“Virgil, kiddo, you feeling any better?” Virgil shrugged, hating how everyone had looked to him when Patton had said his name. Talyn seemed to notice and looked away quickly, back down to their phone, taking a bit of attention away from Virgil. Logan soon followed suit, looking back at the papers scattered in front of him. 

Virgil glanced to the still empty chair, but said nothing of it. 

“These students don’t seem to understand Roman soldiers come from Rome… I have them coming from France, Spain, Germany?” Logan seemed so… tired, and it took everything for Virgil to not laugh at the pain in his voice over that mess. “Honestly, you would think that they would understand that they came from the place that shared their name, Roman empire? Why does no one pay attention to me when I talk?” At that moment, Virgil realized why Logan seemed familiar the night before. They were the history teacher from his school, and Virgil didn’t have their class, since he had it his freshman year. 

“Do you still have them trying to use Roman numerals to get that into their heads?” Patton turned to ask, a pan in his hands, but he never got the answer as someone slid into the kitchen wearing socks and a grin. 

“I was called?” 

“Roman, how long were you standing there waiting for us to say ‘Roman’ three times so you could come in?” Joan seemed very unamused. 

“It was a while. I don’t regret it at all.” Roman beamed and sat in his spot, then noticed Virgil. “You are?” 

Virgil flinched slightly. Roman was bombastic and loud, and it sounded as if he had shouted at him. Roman noticed this, and immediately back pedaled. 

“I-I mean, hi, I’m Roman.” His voice was calmer, quieter, and Virgil definitely appreciated it. 

“Virgil,” he answered quietly, then started slightly as Patton set a plate in front of him. 

“Sorry kiddo, just giving you some food is all!” Patton smiled and went around, setting plates in front of each person, Logan following quietly and helping set food in front of them. The two were thanked quietly, and everyone dug in. Virgil stared at the food a moment, then slowly picked up a fork, poking at the eggs. 

“I didn’t know what you’d like, so scrambled seemed like a safe bet. Is that okay?” Virgil glanced up to Patton, then nodded, carefully eating, rolling over everything with his tongue to check for anything strange, before properly eating. 

Joan ate quickly, then stood, rinsing their plate off and running off. Patton sighed softly, shaking his head, but he was smiling, so it was obvious he hadn’t actually been upset, but Virgil was frozen, eyes wide, before continuing his slow process of eating, hand shaking slightly. No one commented on it, but they each knew something was up with him. 

“Roman?”

Roman hummed at Patton, tilting his head towards him. “Yeah?” 

“You’ll be sharing your room with Virgil, alright?” Virgil froze again. This is what he was trying to avoid, he didn’t like the idea of upsetting anyone, even someone he didn’t know. 

“Alright… I knew this would happen one day.” He sounded forlorn, and Virgil shook slightly. “But I shall accept it valiantly, as a knight would!” Roman went back to eating, and Virgil let out a breath. He didn’t seem too upset over the fact that Virgil would be invading his space. 

Breakfast passed again without much conversation, Virgil being the last person eating, the others dispersing around the house, other than Patton, who sat with Virgil as he ate. 

“Kiddo, how’s your ankle feeling today?” Virgil glanced up at him and shrugged, swallowed. 

“Better than last night.” That was a lie. It ached through his leg, but he didn’t want to worry him, or anything of the sort. Patton raised an eyebrow, but didn’t try to pry. 

“If you need pain meds, we have them in our bathroom, you can ask us if you want, or you can ask Joan.” Patton smiled slightly, then tilted his head. “Also, if you need to talk about anything at all, I’m here. I know I’m not exactly someone you know, or someone you would trust, but I am here.” He smiled kindly, took Virgil’s now empty plate, and rinsed it off, starting the dishes. 

“Why did you bring me in?” Patton paused, turning slightly as if processing Virgil’s soft question. 

“Well…” Patton hummed a moment, thinking. “Logan would say something about how it’s about how my head works because I care too much and have too much love to give to kids, and feel the need to care for those who are less fortunate for various reasons, but… I think it’s because I see how people hurt and want to help. You seemed upset, even though I only saw you walking… so I had to help.” 

Virgil stared at him, then huffed softly, turning his head away. He didn’t want to cry, he felt it wrong, he needed to be strong. It was strange to hear someone caring about him, or at all, and he sighed again. “Well… I guess that makes sense…” he muttered softly. Patton looked over and smiled, drying his hands on a towel and moving closer. 

“Kiddo, I’m here for you. Even if you leave today, or spend a couple weeks or months and never talk to us again, I’ll support you for as long as I possibly can.” He was grinning, and then Virgil was crying, it was silent, but there were tears on his face. Patton frowned slightly, but he had seen it enough times before, so he opened his arms, letting Virgil choose whether he wanted the comforting or not. 

Virgil flung himself at Patton, arms encircling his chest, hiding his face in his shoulder. Patton smiled and hugged him close, moving one hand to his hair to stroke carefully. “It’s okay, kiddo, you’re alright.” Virgil sobbed, trying to stay quiet, but he couldn’t, once he was going he wouldn't stop anytime soon. 

It took a couple minutes for Virgil’s tears to calm, for him to be able to breathe again, and through it all Patton held him, his voice soft and comforting. 

Logan stepped into the kitchen, paused, then moved past, not mentioning it, and Virgil found himself grateful for that, as the teacher set a few things down and then stepped out again. Patton smiled, drawing away from the hug. Carefully, the dad wiped Virgil’s cheeks with the sleeve of his cardigan. 

“Th-thank you,” Virgil mumbled, still hiccuping, in tears, but it wasn’t a desperate sobbing anymore. He seemed calmer, better now. 

“Anytime, kiddo. I’ll always be there for you.” Patton smiled, then helped Virgil back to sitting in the chair, going back over to the sink to finish dishes. “I can help you up to your room in a minute if you want?” 

“That’d… be nice, thank you, Patton.” His voice was soft, he was afraid it would crack if he talked too loud, and he cleared his throat quietly. Slowly, he lost himself in thoughts of Remy, as Patton finished up with the dishes. 

“You alright, kiddo?” Patton’s voice was soft, and Virgil looked up. He wasn’t sure he could tell him about Remy just yet, he didn’t want Patton storming there to save him from... Him, so he nodded, let himself be helped up, leaning against Patton. Virgil’s arm went around Patton’s shoulder, and the dad supported him around the waist, carefully helping him up the stairs. 

Patton knocked on Roman’s door, and it flew open inwards, revealing the actor with what seemed to be a cosplay half on, and he was beaming. “Ah, yes. Hello. I’ve prepared the extra bed for you already! Need to rest that ankle a bit more, yes?” Roman stepped aside, and Patton completely ignored the fact that Roman’s skin was half painted purple. Carefully, Virgil was led over to the bed, and set upon it. 

“There. That should hold you over. I’ll get you some headphones. Roman can be very loud when he’s getting ready.” Patton smiled over at Roman, who was continuing to paint his skin purple. There was a cosplay of something Virgil didn’t recognize on the bed, and Roman looked over and smiled over at Patton. 

“Listen, I can’t help it when I start singing loudly to Disney, Padre, and you know that.” Roman smiled over at Patton innocently, Patton shaking his head slightly, smiling. 

“Alright, just don’t annoy Virgil too much before I get back, alright?” Roman nodded slightly, then went back to painting his face, humming softly and tilting his head up to get his neck. 

“Alright Padre!” Roman hummed as Patton walked out. Virgil watched Roman for a moment, as he tried to blend the makeup onto his neck properly. 

“Hey, uh… Roman, was it? Come here. I can help.” Roman looked over in shock for a moment, then went over to him, handing him the sponge he had been using, tilting his head up. Virgil sighed, shifting forwards slightly, before starting where Roman had left off. 

“See, the trick is to get the right lighting to see if the color is right. Over by the mirror is a little dark, but over here, it’s a bit lighter, and you can see the bits of your real skin color poking through the purple. Why are you painting your skin purple, if I can ask?” 

“I cosplay on Instagram quite a lot. Currently I am obsessed with the reboot of Voltron, and they have an alien species with purple skin, that I am now trying to cosplay the prince of.” Roman smiled slightly, peeking at him. 

“Uh… Lotor, right?” Virgil glanced up at Roman, and Roman grinned. 

“That’s right! You watched it?”

“Well, kinda. I’ve heard of it, wanted to watch it for a bit, but I never managed to find the time.” 

“We can watch it together. I can drag the playstation out, pop on Netflix!” Roman beamed. “Until then, you can just help me finish up Lotor.” Virgil nodded slightly, continuing to blend the purple across Roman’s neck. 

The costume was much more difficult, that much was obvious, with how much help Roman needed to completely put it on, but Roman refused to let him off the bed to help with certain things. 

Virgil had to admit, however, that the costume was very good, close to the picture Roman said he had based it off of. Virgil didn’t know what this show was about really, but Roman was going on and on about it, so Virgil found he didn’t much care either way. 

“Sooo… Is he a bad guy or?” 

“Yes and no.” 

“This doesn’t help me.” 

“Yes at first, kinda later on, it’s a mess and you need to watch it to understand.” Virgil sighed softly, shaking his head. 

“You keep saying that-” 

“And I shall continue saying it until you watch it!” Roman struck a pose, Virgil snickering softly. 

“Then I won’t just to annoy you.” 

“You’re a sick man, Virgil.” 

Virgil smiled a moment, shaking his head, then stretched out his ankle, looking down. It was sore, but didn’t hurt as bad as it did before. Roman tilted his head a moment, then smiled. 

“Alright, now, don’t mind me, I’ll be using the mirror for a bit.” Roman grinned, then seated himself on the vanity he had across from his bed. Virgil sighed, taking the moment to look around the room. Two beds, one half of the room decorated how Roman wanted it, Disney posters everywhere, his bed looked as if he were a prince, and perhaps that’s what he was going for. 

Comparing that to what Virgil assumed to be his side now, it was… blank. A slate that had nothing there yet, beige everything at this point. It was strange, but there was an obvious line where it was Roman’s side, and what was… he didn’t yet feel comfortable calling it his side. 

Virgil sighed, reaching for his bag. It only had a few outfits, hygiene products, and a phone he had bought and hidden for ages. Thousands of cracks covered the screen, and it still worked, but just barely. It turned on after a few minutes, during which Virgil watched Roman taking selfies in the mirror. He snickered softly, only to get a pillow thrown at him. 

One small text message was there. Virgil’s heart skipped a bit. 

Remy: You okay? 

Remy. He’s okay, he’s still okay. Virgil grinned a moment, but noticed it had been sent the night before. 

Virgil: I’m fine. You?

It was risky, sending in the middle of the day. He would be very unlikely to get an answer until later, and he hated waiting, panicking, but it wasn’t a school day. Remy was home… home with him… 

Virgil felt sick. He had left his little, nearly defenseless, brother, with that man. Not a father, not to them. He had left his precious brother… 

He could feel his chest constricting, panic setting it. He couldn’t breathe, didn’t realize he was making noise until Roman’s purple covered face was in his vision, a worried expression  
“Virgil?” His voice was soft, calm, and Virgil almost didn’t flinch at the sound of it. “Virgil, I need you to breathe for me, alright? In for four, hold for seven, out for eight.” Virgil stared, shaking, but, slowly, he obeyed, closing his eyes tightly. 

“See, there we go, it’s alright. I’m gonna put my hands on your shoulders now, alright?” Roman smiled slightly, and Virgil nodded, leading the other to carefully move his hands onto Virgil’s shoulders. Virgil tensed a moment, then relaxed, still trying to keep his breathing under control. 

“You’re alright, it’s alright.” Roman was careful, the pressure on Virgil’s shoulders keeping him grounded, Roman’s breathing calm, Virgil copying that to breathe, slowly moving his hands to cling to Roman’s arms. 

“There… that’s better. You alright?” Virgil looked up, meeting Roman’s eyes a moment, before nodding a bit. “You… comfortable telling me what set you off? So we can avoid it in the future?” 

Virgil sighed softly, closing his eyes. “It’s… not something I can really avoid, in all honesty. I’m… I’m worried about my brother.” Roman blinked, eyes going wide. 

“You have a brother?” 

Virgil nodded slowly, rubbing his eyes. “Yeah… and I couldn’t get to him, couldn’t get him out in time. He’s stuck… and I just… I left him behind, Roman.” 

“You didn’t have a choice.” Virgil looked up at him, blinking a few times in shock. 

“What?” 

“Did you want to leave him behind?” Roman’s eyes were hard, certain of himself in that moment. 

“No.” His voice was almost hesitant… scared to answer even if he knew the answer would not change. 

“Then you didn’t have a choice. You’re so worked up about it, so worried about him you go into a panic attack, then blame yourself, you only left him behind if you had to, if you couldn’t get back to him to take him with you. You obviously care a lot about him, enough to blame yourself for not going back, even if you couldn’t. It’s not your fault, so don’t blame yourself for it. Besides, we’ve done… slightly illegal things before, getting into houses and saving people. Like Talyn.” Roman smiled softly, Virgil realizing he might’ve just been told that Talyn was technically kidnapped, but that didn’t full matter at this point, Roman was smiling that soft, calming smile, and, while it did help, he could feel his stomach flutter a bit, in a very unfamiliar way. 

Virgil blinked a few times, tilting his head for a moment. It was true, in a sense, but really, he still felt guilty for leaving his little brother like that, home with someone he knew was… well, it wasn’t good. “I know…” he sighed quietly, closing his eyes a moment. “But I still worry a lot, you know, especially about… about Remy.” 

“Your little brother?” Roman shifted, biting his lip a moment. 

“Yeah… He’s one good thing I had in my life, and I don’t want to lose him or, or let him get hurt because of me, me leaving leaves him getting the brunt of his rage, and I… I can’t leave him like that long. I know what it does to people.” Virgil looked up at Roman, seeing the same fear and pain in his eyes that Virgil felt inside him, and he knew.

He was sure no one had heard Roman’s past, no one would press here, but Virgil saw the same type of pain he had gone through. Virgil knew something, someone, had hurt him horribly. 

Virgil, without thinking, hugged him close. “You don’t have to say anything, but I know. I know what you feel, I know what it’s like. You hurt, they hurt you, whoever they are, and whatever has happened to you, in your life, you don’t have to share, but know that I know what it’s like. I know it sucks, but you’ve made it this far, and nothing will stop you. I may never know what you’ve gone through, but just know, I am here for you. No matter what, alright?” 

Roman sighed, and nodded a bit. “Thank you, Virgil.” 

They understood each other, for a moment at least, and that was enough for them both. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remy answered at dinner that night. His phone buzzed, and, without a second thought, he answered it, eyes going wide as he flicked out his phone. 

Remy: I’m okay. He’s pissed, but… he hasn’t done anything yet. 

Virgil let out a sigh of relief, smiling a bit. They were staring at him a moment, and Roman smiled slightly, the only one who knew what had been going on. 

“He okay?” Roman asked softly, and Virgil nodded. 

Virgil: Good. He does anything, anything at all, he lays a single finger on you, you tell me, and I will find a way to get to you, alright?

Remy: Alright… 

Remy: Thank you, Virgil. 

Virgil: Course kid.

“Virgil?” He looked up at Patton’s voice, scared he might be angry at him, but his eyes held no anger, just confusion and kindness. “Who is it you’re texting?” 

Virgil swallowed thickly, then sighed softly. “I uh… I have a little brother.” 

There was shock around the table, eyes going wide, little gasps. Virgil almost flinched a moment, then sighed, nodding a bit. 

“His name is Remy. He texts me when it’s safe, and… he’s still safe, for now, he hasn’t… hasn’t been hurt, he’s alright, and that’s… that is the most I can hope for, for now at least.” 

Patton blinked a few times, then teared up. “He’s still…” 

“There, yeah…” he huffed a moment, turning slightly. “He hasn’t been hurt yet, and he knows to text me if he does, so that I can get him out ASAP. I don’t want to leave him there, but I need a plan to get him out, if that makes sense. I’m technically old enough to be able to adopt him officially, but… well, I mean, I’d technically be kidnapping him in a sense, but Deceit, that’s what we call him to avoid saying anything parental about him, wouldn’t care, he’s threatened to kick him out multiple times, and he’s twelve.” Virgil realized he had gone on a little rant, and covered his mouth quickly, eyes going wide, glancing around. 

Patton was crying, not hard, but he definitely had tears running down his face, Logan had an arm around their husband to comfort him carefully. Thomas seemed shocked, even as Joan, who had one hand on Talyn’s arm, almost holding them back, leaned over and patted his hand a bit. Roman leaned over, carefully touching Virgil’s shoulder, and Virgil sighed softly, closing his eyes a moment. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to rant like that-” 

“Never apologize for talking. It’s the most important thing someone who can, can do. Communicating your needs, wants, and views, is important to everyone here.” Logan was soft, but firm, and Virgil blinked a moment, chuckling softly. It was very different than what he normally heard from… him, but it seemed nice, really. It was nice to hear something positive, even if he didn’t fully believe it. 

His phone buzzed again, and he lifted it quickly, and went pale. 

Remy: He’s really angry, Virge, I’m scared. 

Virgil stared a moment, swallowing thickly, and started typing quickly. 

Virgil: Breathe, Remy, it’s alright, really, you’ll be okay. Just, remember the breathing techniques we did together. 

Remy: but you’re not here to do them with me and I’m so scared, Virge I can’t please, please I can hear him. 

Virgil: 4,7,8 Remy, you have to hide your phone. 

Remy: okau 

Virgil stared at his phone, shaking a bit, barely aware of Roman’s arms around him, repeating the same numbers he had just told Remy, getting him to breathe and calm down, stroking his hair carefully. 

Remy was in danger, and he had no way to know if he would be safe until after it was all over, and he was so so scared for him, he was scared that him not being there would leave him defenseless, what was he thinking just leaving him like that?

All he could hear was his heart in his ears, his chest heaving. He felt someone easing his phone from his grasp, his chair was tugged a bit away from the table and then Roman was in his swimming vision. He was saying something, but Virgil couldn’t hear it, he didn’t understand it, nothing was okay, it was all going so wrong, he had been so close to being okay again, and now Remy was in danger and nothing would be able to fix it at this point- 

Roman had tugged him into his chest in a last ditch effort to help, and… his heart seemed quieter, buried in Roman’s chest, and Virgil clung to him tightly, arms around him quickly, shaking in his arms. He cried softly, shivering, his heart slowly calming down, he could hear again, and all he could hear was Roman, his voice was soft, careful, just… just talking at him, not to him, at him, his voice curling around the words carefully, slipping around his ears and not leaving an impression, not anything big, just there, just giving him… something to focus on, to hear, and calm back down. Roman could be saying anything, but that soft voice could calm him down no matter what. Virgil focused on it, hearing the words, but not listening, just hearing them. He focused on the way the words sounded, but not what they meant, not anything real in them. 

He found, as he started to calm properly, that Roman was just a bit British. It was faint, hard to hear, but it was there, just a little hint of it. It was interesting. He never would have noticed if he hadn’t focused so closely on his hypnotic voice, never would have realized it… 

“You alright now, Virgil?” That was a real sentence to him, something to focus on, to hear, to listen to, and Virgil blinked, reconnecting himself with the world. He looked up at Roman a moment, who smiled gently, tilting his head a bit. 

“Uh…” his voice rasped a bit and he cleared his throat, sighing softly. “Uh, yeah… I-I think I’m okay.” 

Roman nodded a bit, sighing softly. “He hasn’t replied yet, but when he does we’re all here for you and him, alright?” 

Virgil sighed and nodded a bit. It was the best they had for now, and he had to take it. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took three days for Virgil to stop limping on his ankle, and at that point, Remy still seemed okay, still seemed safe. He had texted later that night, said nothing had happened, and every night since, that he was still okay, still unharmed. Still, Virgil worried. Remy was about to get out of school for the summer, and that wasn’t good. Remy would be home more often than not, be there to see his anger more often than not. 

“The thing with Deceit,” he explained softly, frowning a bit, surrounded by the small family he had slowly been finding his spot in, “is that he isn’t often… physically abusive. He likes to talk, to twist words and break them down so they don’t matter, and everything he says could be twisted, or not, he makes you never trust a thing he says, but he’s all that he lets you have, and thus… you have to trust him, no matter what. He has a bad temper, though, and sometimes it gets the best of him.” 

“You were… hurt by him?” Virgil had learned Patton had a temper as well, though it was directed at those who dared to hurt anyone he considered his children, which could even include Logan on certain days, though his spouse never seemed to mind it. 

“A… few times, yes, that were directed at me, but Remy… Remy has this attitude of ‘I don’t care’ to hide his fear, and… it doesn’t work well with Deceit’s anger problems. Remy angers him easily, and I protected him from it as much as possible.” 

Patton huffed softly, closing his eyes a moment, holding back his anger at this man he had never met. “How… how old is Remy, again?” 

“Twelve. School ended yesterday, and… he’s been home, since we were never allowed to leave the house. It was a rule that… we never broke, because it held the worst punishment. We can get him out, I know we can.” Virgil sighed softly, closing his eyes a moment. 

“How?” Joan was quiet, looking over at Virgil. Virgil smiled a bit. 

“I have a bit of a plan. It’s not foolproof, but using what I know of him, it should work.” Virgil smiled a bit. 

“So? Spill it.” Talyn probed, leaning forwards a bit. 

“He likes to argue, a lot. He doesn’t have a ‘no soliciting’ sign up, so people come to his door and he sees how long it takes him to scare them off with his probing questions. If someone, maybe two people, can go up front and distract him, I know how to get back and inside to Remy. I can warn him beforehand, so that I get in, Remy has everything packed, and you won’t need so long to distract him.” Virgil sighed softly, looking away. “I know it has a lot of flaws right now, but we can fix it before we go with it.” 

“If this is what we go with…” Logan said, smiling a moment. “Perhaps me and this… Deceit as you call him, can see who is better with words.” 

Virgil smiled a bit. They were actually gonna help him, and that realization felt amazing. He’d have his little brother back soon. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few days after he could walk, Virgil had been in the room, helping Roman with another cosplay, another from Voltron, someone called Allura, but Virgil didn’t know who it was this time, when Patton came into the room, smiling. 

“Hey kiddos! Just wondering if you would want to bake something with me?” Patton beamed at them, and Virgil felt himself smiling back at him. 

Roman hummed a moment. “I’m working on this, but I think I’ve got it from here, if you want to, Virge?” Virgil blinked and then smiled, nodding a bit, stepping away from Roman. 

“Why not?” He hummed, smiling a bit. It was something… small, bringing him into the family. He had been here for awhile, and he wanted to… pull himself into the family, sure he’d stay for awhile, for any reason, really and, if Patton offered, he’d agree anytime. 

Virgil moved away from Roman, going out into the hall and humming softly, following Patton down into the kitchen. It was quiet, Joan and Talyn had gone off somewhere with Thomas, Virgil hadn’t paid too much attention, and it was likely it was something for Thomas’s online thing he had started, and Logan was off at the school, working on fixing up their classroom for the upcoming year, even if it was still a month away. 

Patton hummed as he walked into the kitchen, most everything already set out. Virgil frowned a moment, but didn’t question it, keeping quiet. Patton gave him the bowl to start mixing everything together while Patton added it. 

“So… why’d you need me?” Virgil asked. 

“I didn’t! I wanted to spend time with you!” Patton beamed over at him, humming a bit. “Plus… I wanted to talk to you about something.” Virgil froze a moment, and Patton raised his hands. “Nothing bad! Promise!” 

Virgil sighed a moment, nodding a bit. “Alright… What is it?” 

Patton tilted his head a bit, then sighed softly. “The very first day you were here, you asked my reasonings for why I do this… I didn’t exactly answer you… I just said what Logan might say the reasons were.” 

Virgil nodded a bit. He remembered that. He took the answer, didn’t push, but he had been a bit confused as to why in the world he’d give such a vague answer. 

“See, kiddo… I know what it’s like to be in a family where it feels like people don’t care, and maybe they do, maybe they don’t, but… I don’t like knowing there are kiddos out there that aren’t okay in their own homes, and… I wanna help as many as I can. Maybe I won’t make that much of a difference, maybe I can only save a few here and there, but I’ll make a difference for those few, and that’s all that matters!” 

Virgil was silent, watching Patton a moment. Patton seemed to be on the verge of tears, but he was smiling. His hands were shaking as he worked, and Virgil sighed, setting the bowl down. Patton blinked, looking over at him a moment. 

“Kiddo? Something wrong?” Patton asked, looking at him quickly, one hand moving up and wiping away the tears building up. Virgil didn’t answer, not verbally at least, just carefully hugged Patton as close as he could. Affection wasn’t something he gave out often-hell, Roman barely got a hug. Logan, Thomas, and Joan had yet to even get a fist bump, a right reserved to Talyn. This was all he knew how to do, however, to make sure Patton knew how much Virgil appreciated being here. 

Patton was quiet a moment, then sniffled a bit, wrapping his arms around Virgil tightly, shaking a bit. Virgil could tell he was holding back tears, and he sighed softly, holding him just a bit tighter, and the dam broke, Patton crying softly into his shoulder. 

Virgil sunk to the floor with him, knowing crying on your feet always sucked, especially when you started to get dizzy, though maybe that was just him, since he was usually really dehydrated and crying never helped that. Patton didn’t fight it, sinking down and holding onto him tightly. 

Patton cried quietly, up until the oven beeped, signaling it had finished preheating. He sniffled, drawing away a bit and rubbing his eyes, standing carefully. He smiled, helping Virgil to his feet carefully. Virgil raised an eyebrow and Patton beamed at him. 

“I’m okay, really. Just… I don’t like crying in front of people, not even Logan, but… sometimes you just need a good cry, y’know what I mean?” Patton smiled at him, shifting and starting to actually form the cookies quickly. 

Virgil paused a moment, then nodded slightly, smiling. “Yeah… Yeah I know exactly what you mean.”   
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Virgil realized that, with the amount of sweets that Patton baked, there should have been a lot more that they had to eat. Sure, they always had the cookies sitting out that always seemed to be fresh, but Patton baked a lot. Virgil had peeked into the pantry a few times, and the top shelf was just baking supplies. There was an entire shelf in the fridge for eggs alone. 

He also started realizing that he only really ever saw Patton in the kitchen. Like, sure, he was other places, but if he wanted to find Patton, he’d look in the kitchen first, and he’d find him there, a good eighty percent of the time. 

Virgil didn’t wanna question it, he didn’t want to seem rude, but it was… strange to him. Patton seemed to bake all the time, and no one in the house ever ate any of it. Whatever the reasoning, Virgil started dubbing this the ‘Disappearing Sweets Problem’ anytime he thought about it to himself. 

It was about a week after the kitchen incident that Virgil found himself baking with Patton again. It was therapeutic, almost, and they often baked and talked, sometimes with others, usually Roman. Virgil often felt a bit better after those times, he realized, and when Roman was there, he found himself getting used to the others a lot easier. 

Virgil was working on batter, just talking about something that had happening in his last year of school, before he glanced over a Patton, who… was working on a different batter? Virgil blinked a moment. 

“Uh… Patton… I have a question, and I really hope it doesn’t come off as rude, but… where does all this baking go, anyways?” Virgil looked up at his face, and Patton blinked a moment, before laughing softly. 

“I forgot I didn’t tell you kiddo!” Patton beamed at him, leaning over and poking his cheek gently. “It’s my job! We would never be able to live with this many kids running about on a teacher’s salary, so… I started an out of the home custom baking thing!” Patton grinned, and Virgil blinked, slightly confused at his wording, but shrugged it off. 

“So… these are orders?” Patton nodded, setting aside what he was working on and whipping out his phone, tapping a few things before flipping it around to show Virgil a FaceBook page, with thousands of pictures. Patton beamed. “It’s a bit hard to keep up with all the orders, but I think they like me a lot because I do delivery!” 

“Or…” Virgil smiled softly. “Because your baking is that of a god’s, and they want a taste of the ambrosia you bake with.” He smiled, turning back to his batter, tilting his head a moment. 

Patton laughed. “Flattery will get you nowhere, silly! I just like baking, so I did it a lot for fun, and now… I do this! It’s nice. I meet a lot of cool people every time, even if Logan refuses to let me go alone on deliveries. That reminds me! I have a few I need to do today! Once these are in the oven, I’ll get Roman to watch them and then get them cooling… that is… if you wanna come with me!” Patton beamed over at him. 

Virgil paused a moment, before nodding slightly. “Alright. That sounds… interesting.” Slightly scary, maybe a little panic inducing, but… well, if anything went wrong, he had a few tricks up his sleeve including running as fast as humanly possible, so it would be alright. 

Patton beamed. “Great! We’ll just get these guys into the oven and we can head out!” Patton beamed, calling Roman down. 

Virgil took the job of explaining while Patton set the cakes up, ready to slide into the oven the moment the oven beeped. As soon as those cakes were ready to go, Roman in his spot, Patton opened the fridge, taking out a three stack of yellow boxes. Virgil had noticed them before, but never really considered what those might be. 

Those three boxes were put into a small cooler, and Patton waved Virgil out with him. They went down to the second car the family had, something smaller than the van for more personal trips. The cooler was loaded into the back, before Patton blinked then ran back inside coming back with a thing of cupcakes, probably from the freezer, and handed them to Virgil as soon as Virgil had settled into his spot. 

“There you go! Sorry I almost forgot about those ones. You in, kiddo?” Confirmation given, Patton shut the door the car and moved around to the drivers side. 

“I’m gonna have to put the AC on pretty high, you okay with that?” Virgil nodded a bit, smiling softly. Patton beamed, starting the car with a bit of difficulty, and moved away from the curb, humming softly. 

“I say cupcakes first, cause they’re the farthest out, and then we can work our way back into town?” Patton glanced over, and Virgil, with nothing better to do, nodded a bit. He had no clue how this worked really. 

Patton hummed lowly, flicking through songs, before settling on a station that wasn’t too bad, but Virgil didn’t recognize the song. Unsurprising. He didn’t really listen to a lot of music, sticking to what he knew because it was familiar to him. 

“You doing alright kiddo? You seem a bit lost in your head there!” Patton smiled over at him, tilting his head a moment. Virgil glanced over, then smiled a bit. 

“I’m alright. Just… anxious I suppose. That’s normal for me at this point though…” He murmured, looking away a moment. Patton sighed lowly. 

“Well, yeah, I can see that, you shouldn’t act as if it’s a bad thing! Being anxious might be a bit overwhelming at times, but it doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. Think of yourself… more as a protector! They have to be suspicious and worried about everything to protect those they care about.” 

Virgil blinked a moment, before nodding slightly. That was something he hadn’t thought about before. It was true, he thought. Being someone who had to protect others meant being worried about everyone… but who was he protecting being so anxious all the time? Himself? That didn’t seem worth it… 

“Besides.” Virgil lifted his head a moment, looking over at Patton. “I had a pretty bad anxiety disorder when I was younger, I still do, it’s just lessened.” Virgil blinked. Carefree Patton, with an anxiety disorder? It didn’t seem to fit in his head, and Patton laughed softly. “I know, weird to think about isn’t it? But… you should take where I am now as… it won’t always be so bad. You’ll find something, someone that helps, and it’ll work out so you aren’t so scared anymore. It might take a bit of searching, a scary thing, but until you find that permanent solution, you can lean on us!” 

Virgil nodded slightly, smiling a moment. They were all extremely kind, Talyn had become a very good friend to him over the few weeks he had been here, and Roman, while infuriating, wasn’t as bad as he expected him to be. He’d even taken down a few of his various Disney posters to let Virgil hang up a few of his own things, which included a Nightmare Before Christmas poster Roman nearly cried over. 

“Yeah…” Virgil smiled softly, glancing at Patton a moment. “That does sound pretty nice.” He mumbled, watching Patton pull up in front of a rather large house. 

“I’ll be right back. I’ll drop them off, get payment, and then come right back!” Virgil handed off the cupcakes, then leaned forwards so he could see the doorway to the house. If he was gonna be a protector… might as well use that. 

Patton bounced up to the door, knocking a few times, and waited. The door opened after a moment, to reveal… one of the biggest men Virgil had ever seen. He looked easily to be 6’7”, covered in tattoos, piercings, and seemed as if he could easily bench press the truck that sat outside on its raised wheels. 

Virgil could almost feel his heart stop beating, but he stayed in his seat a moment, shaking slightly. Patton talked a moment, and the man laughed, a deep booming noise Virgil could hear from the street. Patton seemed to have this… uncanny ability to take someone and turn them docile. 

The man handed a small envelope to Patton, and Patton passed the cupcakes to him, waving and bouncing off back down to the car. He slipped in, then looked at Virgil a moment, whose eyes were wide. 

“He looked like he could break you like a twig.” 

“He’s a regular! He’s a big fan of my red velvet, and asked me to make some for his buddies today! He’s a really sweet guy!” Patton laughed, flipping the car around and starting out again, humming lowly. 

“Okay… so I see why Logan won’t let you go out alone on these now…” Virgil mumbled, leaning back in his seat quietly, closing his eyes, his heart still pounding. 

“Yeah… but you’re my protector!” Patton beamed, looking over at Virgil. Virgil paused a moment, before nodding slightly. He was. He really was in that moment. Virgil might not have tried to run up there and save Patton himself, dear lord, he couldn’t have managed that, but he had been ready to act. He glanced down to his hand, where his phone had been clutched the entire time. 

“See kiddo?” Virgil’s eyes flicked back to Patton, who beamed at him, pulling into the next house. “Anxiety isn’t a bad thing… it’s just… an overactive protective instinct is all!” Patton popped around the car, grabbing one of the cakes. “But you’ll be happy to know that these next few are just a couple of old women who wanted cakes for a party!” He smiled, moving up the driveway. 

Virgil leaned forwards a bit without thinking, then blinked, smiling softly. Maybe he was an anxious mess, but he was also a protector, and, even as Patton chatted with the little woman who looked as if she could have easily been ninety, Virgil still felt the need to watch, just in case. 

He could live with being a protector, he supposed, leaning back again as Patton skipped down the driveway, if this little family were the ones he protected.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It came to a head a month after Virgil had gotten into that household, two weeks after Remy got out of school. At two am, he got a text, waking both him and Roman, since Remy’s text tone was the loudest one he had. He sat up carefully, looking around, then yawned, realizing it was his phone. Strange, he had… already gotten… the update text. 

This was bad. 

Virgil flew up, eyes going wide. One word, their code word, their panic, please help I can’t do it word. 

Remy: Snake. 

Virgil flew up, only to have Roman stop him, eyes wide. 

“Virgil, you can’t go running, no matter what.” 

“I have to, I have to, he panic-worded, Roman, he used his panic word, he never does that.” Virgil shook slightly, eyes wide, trying to break free from Roman’s grasp. “Please, he’s in danger, I can’t stand around.” 

“You’re not. We’ll go get him tomorrow, I promise.” Roman tugged him close, stroking his hair carefully. Virgil whined, then picked up his phone carefully, letting out a sigh. 

Virgil: Pack your bag. We’re coming for you tomorrow. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was difficult, really, thinking about going back, but he had to, for Remy. He had to. 

They decided it would be Patton and Logan going up to the door. Most solicitors had a partner, or someone to train, and Logan could distract him easily. 

“Do you have a… real name for him? Something most places would know? And, if you don’t mind me asking, why did you call him Deceit in the first place?” Logan asked, as they drove through the neighborhood to his old home. 

Virgil sighed softly. “I think it’s Declyn. I’m not sure, he’d send us off when people came to the door, I don’t think he was supposed to have kids, so he hid us away. I’d hide in the bathroom, where I could press my ear against the wall and hear him talk. We… We had to have a way to talk about him without him knowing. We went with what we knew, how he liked to lie and twist words, and thus went with Deceit, simply because he had, and would, deceive us if it got him close to whatever his goal is in life.” 

“Declyn…?” Virgil frowned at the question, biting his lip. 

“Uhm… I don’t know… I never heard it. He usually stops them before they finish saying his name. He says it’s because Declyn is a rarer name, so you’d find the house easily.” 

Logan nodded a bit. Roman huffed a moment, then looked at Virgil. “Can you handle going back in? You’ve been… safe with us for awhile, and I don’t want that home triggering anything in you.” 

Virgil leaned a bit towards him, smiling a bit. “Thank you for being worried, but I’ll… I’ll be okay. For Remy.” He smiled, imagining his little brother for a moment, and nodding. He could do anything for his one piece of family. 

What he and Roman were about to do was sneak around through other’s yards. The person behind Deceit, an older man named Dr. Picani, who let him and Remy use his backyard to add to their little pretend adventures when they were younger. Picani was a very nice man, albeit a bit… strange, and Remy quite liked him. Virgil, on the other hand, was always wary. Deceit had once told him that the other man would hurt him and not a soul would find him. 

That was a terrifying thought for an eight year old to have. 

Still, Virgil knocked on Picani’s door like he had so many times before, only with Roman on his one side. It wasn’t something he thought he’d ever do, especially with what they planned. 

Picani was a quiet man, never had kids of his own but wanted them. He had basically adopted a boy across the street, Virgil thought his name was Emile, and had attempted to do the same to him and Remy. Remy accepted the fatherly nature of the man, and Virgil, well, he didn’t. He thought he’d be hurt, like Deceit had always said. 

Picani lit up when he saw Virgil there and, though confusion crossed his face when he saw Roman, he stepped to the side. “Come on in, boys. I can start some tea!”

Virgil sighed, and felt rather bad about how he was, and smiled a bit. “Maybe later, Doctor, we uh… we need into your backyard for a bit.” Picani blinked, tilting his head a bit, understandably confused. 

“Why do you need into my backyard? Not that I won’t let you…” 

“Well…” Virgil knew they didn’t have time to tell the whole story, and he sighed. 

“We’re going to go get Remy from the house behind you and then take him home with us so he’s safe.” Roman interrupted. Picani blinked, looking between them, the dots connecting in his head, and he nodded a bit. 

“Alright. I’ll lead you back, feel free to hide in the house a bit if you need after your little rescue mission.” Picani smiled kindly, and led them back through the kitchen and the living room, opening the back door. The backyard was a mess of weeds, the brick wall separating the two backyards standing at just a bit under Virgil’s chin. He moved over, then glanced to Roman, who was looking at his phone. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Logan pulled up in front of the house Virgil had told them, and stepped out carefully, fixing their tie. They looked back at Patton, who slid out of the car, smiling a bit. “We got this, Loganberry.” Logan smiled a bit nodding before starting towards the door. Patton stayed back a bit, hand in his pocket, where his phone sat, a text ready to send. 

Two knocks and the door opened, and the text was sent, Logan smirking a bit. 

“Declyn-” 

“Yeah.” The interruption was expected, but Logan coughed a moment, looking away as if offended by it, before sighing and starting their spiel. They had practiced it before, Virgil had told them that Declyn had once said if it weren’t illegal, he and Remy wouldn’t have gone to school, and thus they built a ploy, basically asking for donations to schooling. Virgil had said it was the most likely to get him going and angry, while also giving them both something to argue back about, Logan being a teacher after all. Still, while it wasn’t the most realistic, it was the best they had. 

“I’m Logan, and this is my partner Patton, and we’re here in honor of the Evan’s High School, and we’re asking for donations so that we can expand the library-” 

“Why would I do that exactly?” Logan blinked a moment, acting surprised, tilting their head a bit. 

“Well, we’re not saying it’s mandatory, we’re asking for donations to further the education of these children in order to broaden their horizons and give them more options in their future careers and to help further the community as a whole.” Perhaps they were laying it on thick, but, maybe that was best, since that way, Declyn would have quite a bit to unpack and perhaps he would rant himself. 

For a second, they glanced over at Patton, who just barely smiled back, before turning their attention back to the man in front of them. Virgil was in. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Roman’s phone vibrated, and Virgil flipped himself over the wall quickly, Roman following. They snuck to the window as quiet as they could, thought the yard was full of dead weeds to avoid, just in case, and it was a bit harder than they had assumed at first glance. Still, Virgil made it to the window, then tapped twice, ducking under it. 

There was no answer for a couple seconds, and in those seconds Virgil panicked. Anything could go wrong, anything could have happened, maybe he wasn’t there, maybe he was caught trying to pack, but- 

Slowly, the window inched open, and a small face appeared. Remy’s eyes lit up when he saw Virgil, and he pushed the window open further. Virgil smiled a moment, then bounced up, grabbing onto the windowsill and tugging himself through, Remy helping his brother maneuver through the window and land quietly. Roman peeked in, then shook his head a bit. The window was small, and his shoulders wouldn’t be able to fit through. 

Virgil glanced around the room a moment, raising an eyebrow. Before, it had hundreds of band posters hidden under the beds, the walls were a greyish brown that made Virgil’s head hurt, and the closet had doors. Now, the beds were stripped down, two duffle bags were set on one, and the doors to the closet had, for some reason, been removed. Virgil looked to question Remy on it, and he just sighed. 

“He got a lot worse after you left… Angrier… more violent. He always said it was my fault…” Virgil frowned, then tugged him close to his chest, stroking his hair. 

“It’s never been your fault, and will never be your fault. I promise you that, and I am so so sorry that you had to be in this environment.” Virgil sighed lowly, then stepped away, grabbing one of the bags and shoving it through the window to Roman, who took it, slinging it over his shoulder. Remy grabbed the other, doing the same, before Virgil lifted him carefully, helping him through the window, just as the door to the room flew open. 

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“Education is a waste of time to everyone. There is no need to sit in a classroom doing nothing but listening to someone ramble about inane things that no one would ever need in the future for their work. There is nothing more time wasting then spending sixteen plus years sitting around listening to someone drovel and say you need this and that to be successful in life.” Declyn seemed confident, leaning against the doorway, a small smirk playing on his face. Logan knew it was only because of his love to anger and fight others, and yet they couldn’t help but feel a bit angry by how wrong his argument was. 

Logan could feel their eyebrow twitching, but they kept a pleasant smile up, tilting their head a bit. “Well, education does help make sure you can budget, survive in the real world, be able to count how much you can spend each week, learn how to be able to work along the world and better yourself in order to create a better society. Helping donate to the schools helps add more helpful classes into the curriculum, and thus brings more of what you would consider good into the minds of students.” They really hoped this would help, though, knowing what Virgil had said about him, no amount of logic would actually help convince him anything he didn’t want to believe. Logan felt tired, barely into this conversation at all. 

“School is simply a popularity contest where no one matters and the only thing that does is who is the best around according to trivial things such as hair and clothing. That’s all the world ends up being as well, with forcing children to need small things like a diploma to work in the world at a wage that helps them survive.” Declyn switched directions, going completely another way, off into nothing that Logan had even mentioned. Was this how he debated? Going around and bouncing between subjects to confuse and anger his opponent? 

Anyone else, and Logan might’ve said they could debate fairly well, but on this. Debating with this specific topic? Logan would not stand down. 

“While yes, that would be considered true, again, giving to the school would help enforce more rules, and help make things a better environment for people, and thus add to bettering the mindsets of the children that come through. It’s only a law that children go to schools so that children do not fall behind and become a drain on society.” Logan sent a smirk back at Declyn as he stepped back just a bit, as if realizing just now that Logan was destroying every argument he threw their way, and decided to go with one more thing. 

“Schooling is a drain on society.” Alright, that just… made no sense to Logan, they could feel the anger building up inside them, like a bonfire that was suddenly fed more than it should have been, and, almost as if he sensed the anger that his spouse was giving off, that’s when Patton piped in. 

“You don’t have an argument for that one, and thus it makes it an opinion. Opinions, while normally based in fact, are also often misinformed, much like you!” Logan looked over toward their husband. That was a bigger insult there, one that was hidden in Patton’s peppy tone, the wide innocent eyes, and that right there was one reason Logan had fallen for him, that ability to throw people off like that, and they really hoped it would help in this situation. 

Declyn seemed almost offended by that statement, and was fully ready to answer, when a noise from the back started. Both Logan and Patton’s eyes went wide, as Declyn looked at them, then shut the door before either could say anything. Patton was frantic, typing as quickly as he could, Logan standing frozen in near full blown panic, but the bang of the door hitting the wall inside let them know. 

They were too late. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Virgil looked to the door, flipping around and seeing him there. Roman pulled Remy through the window quickly and, with the very slight nod from Virgil, grabbed the bags and bolted into Picani’s home, where the elder man was waiting for them. 

Declyn and Virgil stared at one another, Virgil standing his ground, though there was nowhere to go pinned against the wall, other than out the window, but there was no one to catch him once out. 

“You…” His voice was low, sent shivers of terror down Virgil’s spine, and brought too many bad memories to the surface. “You left this home, and think you can come back and take my child from me?” 

Virgil flinched back a bit as Declyn advanced. His eyes darted around, then narrowed in on the space between the bed and Declyn. Virgil looked back up to his face, then narrowed his eyes, stepping a bit forward, a bit taller, looking him dead in the eyes. 

“You never had children.” With that, he dodged under Declyn’s arm, ran through the door and down the hall. He could hear the older man running after him, and he ran faster, heart pounding in panic and fear, eyes going wide. He flung open the door, seeing Patton and Logan getting into the car. Logan looked over, then flung open the back door, allowing Virgil to fling himself into the back. They took off as Virgil shut the door quickly, panting, tears building up. Patton glanced back as he flipped around the block, then looked to Logan, who, for once, disregarded the laws of the road, and climbed back between the seats to sit next to Virgil. 

“In for four, hold for seven, out for eight,” they murmured, rubbing Virgil’s back lightly. Patton flew in front of Picani’s house, and Virgil flung himself out, bolting to the door and bursting through it. 

Remy looked up, seeing him and breaking away from Roman and running to him, grabbing onto him tightly. Virgil clung to him just as hard, both sinking to the floor and crying softly together, rocking a bit with one another slowly, shaking. Remy was sobbing, tears streaming down his face like rain, his cheeks red and blotchy from what Virgil could only assume the entire time spent crying. Virgil whimpered softly, stroking his hair and shushing him quietly, tears building up in his own eyes slowly. There was snot on Virgil’s shirt now, but he couldn’t find it in him to care about it, since nothing really seemed to matter except Remy. 

Even as they cried, they were relieved. They had each other again, and that’s all that mattered to them. Two brothers, finally reunited. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trying to get Remy to adjust was difficult. He was very skittish, terrified constantly of almost everything, scared of even Talyn, who was normally the softest and quietest of the bunch around newer people. The only one he wasn’t scared of was Virgil, and he was constantly connected to his side, as Virgil was always around and always there to make sure his little brother came along well. 

Only two days after saving Remy, Roman’s birthday rolled around, and Patton made a giant three tier cake, and, while neither Remy nor Virgil understood exactly what was going on, they didn’t want to seem rude. In fact, even not getting Roman something, which seemed customary for these days worried them both, to the point that they were trying to find something from their personal belongings that they could give him when they were called down. 

Virgil looked at Remy a moment, whose eyes were wide, almost panicked, and sighed. “We’ll find something later on, alright? We can just say… that we couldn’t find the perfect gift yet!” He smiled softly, and Remy sighed, before nodding carefully, grabbing a pair of sunglasses off the bed and slipping them onto his face. 

Together, they moved downstairs, where Roman was bouncing in his seat excitedly, beaming at them. “Glad to see you two, Cool Kid On The Block, Dear Evan Darkness.” He winked, and Virgil snorted. Remy looked between them, following Virgil’s example of not letting it bother him, settling in his spot next to him quietly. He was still worried about this whole ordeal, but it would be better, Remy was sure. 

Patton hummed, moving inside and setting down the cake in the middle of the table, eyes shining, looking around. The cake was intricately decorated with everything from little fondue drama masks to small characters that Virgil vaguely recognized as some of the characters that Roman had on his instagram. Three tiers, chocolate, vanilla, up to strawberry on the top, where, perched in a little throne with a tiny crown, was a mini figurine of Roman made of fondue. Dotting the sides, Roman was on eighteen candles, carefully placed into something resembling a smiley face. Roman had to stand to be able to match its height once it was placed down on the table, and Virgil doubted he’d be able to reach the top few candles, though he knew Patton wouldn’t do that to him. 

It was vaguely daunting, especially since Virgil was a good six inches shorter than Roman. The only reason he could see the top of the cake was where he and Remy were at the table. Remy was wide eyed staring at the cake. Sure, there had been the occasion that kids had birthdays in the class, maybe a cupcake or two was brought in, but neither of them had really eaten them. They saved those until they needed them, and ate them stale in the dead of the night when they hadn’t been allowed dinner. There wasn’t nearly enough birthdays to cover every night it happened, but a few nights… they had something, even if it was a stale cupcake. 

So, really, neither of them knew what this thing really was. Sure, they knew it was cake, that was common sense, but at the same time… they had never seen something like this. Both blinked, glancing around as the others started singing. Patton’s voice was the strongest, not all that surprising, Logan simply humming along, Thomas adding riffs here and there, and Talyn and Joan trying to copy each other’s voices. Virgil and Remy looked at each other, then attempted to follow the words. 

As soon as Thomas’s riff was finally over, Roman took a breath, and extinguished the smiley quickly, starting on one side of the smile and moving across, then doing each eye to applause and forehead kisses, the latter from Patton only. 

Remy and Virgil glanced at each other again, Remy’s eyebrows raised a bit. Virgil shifted, leaning over and putting a hand on his shoulder comfortingly, shifting his chair a bit closer to him just in case. 

Patton snatched the candles with Roman’s help, dumping them off and starting to cut the cake. He hummed lowly, getting Joan and Talyn strawberry, before glancing over at Virgil and Remy. “What would you two like?” 

Remy flinched back automatically, but shifted a bit, calming back down. Patton seemed hurt a moment, but shook it off easily. Virgil sighed, tilting his head. “We uhm… we’ve never had cake before, really.” 

There was silence for a moment and Virgil frowned heavily, eyes widening a bit. Had he said something wrong? Was it just that shocking? It shouldn't have been. Logan and Patton at least had seen partially inside the house that they had lived in, and it wasn’t pretty. 

Patton blinked, then shook it off. “How ’bout I get you two a slice of vanilla for now. Wanna share?” he asked, tilting his head a bit. Neither boy, Virgil nor Remy, was used to the three meal thing yet. They were used to only having one, sometimes none, so adjusting meant smaller meals but spaced over time. It wasn’t uncommon to see them sharing off the same plate when eating. 

Virgil nodded a moment, and Patton cut a slice, slightly bigger than what he normally gave one person, but split between two seemed a lot less than it should have been to him, but Patton was still getting used to trying to get the two to eat properly. 

Remy stared a moment before poking it with a fork, getting a bit of frosting and eating it, blinking. “Woah…” he mumbled. Virgil raised an eyebrow, then shifted, picking up his own fork and shifting to take a small piece of cake and frosting, staring at it a moment, before putting it into his mouth. 

The first thing he got was just sweet. Overbearingly so, like he had eaten pure sugar. He covered his mouth, coughed, and shifted a bit. It seemed to have settled, or perhaps he got used to it, and he could taste the vanilla of the cake. It seemed to squish instead of crumble like he was used to with baked goods, and the frosting… was strange. It didn’t taste like anything he could think of, but it was good. 

Patton finished up serving everyone, then looked around a moment, tilting his head a bit. He focused in on the two, Remy who had taken a proper bite now, and Virgil who was still processing his first. “So.. you two like it?” 

“It’s… a lot of sugar.” Virgil smiled up at him. “Good, just… really sweet. Wasn’t expecting that.” Virgil smiled softly, looking up at Patton, who nodded a bit. 

“I’m confused though. Why have you never had it? You’ve had birthdays before, right?” 

“Everyone has a birthday?” Virgil thought it was an innocent enough question, but the sudden pain in Patton’s eyes made him rethink that, and Virgil looked away, eating another bite of the sweet cake. 

“Of course Virgil… did you never celebrate it?” Virgil shook his head a moment, frowning for a second longer. Patton seemed so confused by this prospect, that someone had never had a birthday. 

“Well… do you know what day you were born?” 

Virgil thought on it. Did he? He remembered those days from Elementary where birthdays were posted on the walls in little cupcakes, and Virgil thought quietly, then slowly nodded. 

“I… I think it was December nineteenth?” Virgil looked up at Patton, and Patton smiled softly.

“It’s a start, at least. How old are you?” Virgil had to pause to think, count the years of school, various little things, before blinking. 

“Nineteen.” He smiled softly. “Same day… wow…” he mumbled. 

Roman looked over. “Wait… Prince Darkness over there is older than me?” Patton giggled, nodding a moment. 

“That he is! By eight months!” Patton’s eyes shined as he beamed over at the flabbergasted Roman. After a moment, Patton looked at Remy, smiling calmly. “What about yours, kiddo?” 

Remy went silent, and Virgil was sure he was doing the same math Virgil had to do. “Uhm.. J-January sixteenth?” Virgil nodded a moment, smiling softly. 

“And-” 

“He’s twelve. I already knew that much, kept track of it just in case.” Virgil smiled up at him, and Patton nodded.

“Well, when the time comes, you two will have the best first birthdays that I can provide you with!” Patton beamed, then paused, hearing someone knocking on the door. The others went quiet as Patton went over, smiling a bit as he opened the door. As soon as he did, however, his smiled dropped. 

On the other side of the door stood Declyn, with a pair of cops. One blinked at Patton’s current attire, which included a frosting covered apron, and then shook his head a moment. 

The other spoke up. “This is the residence of Patton Pathgos, correct?” Patton blinked, then nodded minutely. “We have some accusations from this man that you came into his home and kidnapped both of his children, and that you’ve been doing the same to multiple families.” Logan shifted, getting up carefully and moving over to the door, putting a hand on Patton’s arm, since the poor man looked terrified. 

“I’m sorry, but I don’t quite understand what you mean by that. I’ve never seen this man before in my life.” Logan didn’t look over at Declyn, focusing instead on the two officers. One narrowed her eyes, then sighed lowly. 

“Look, he’s saying a few days ago, you came in and tried to take his kid, uhm… Remmilard, I think it was, from his home, and also accused you of housing multiple runaways.” Patton blinked, rubbing his eyes a moment. 

“Why, why would we do that?” he asked in a small voice, tears building up in his eyes. Logan glanced over at him a moment, carefully tugging him a bit closer to their chest. Roman glanced between them all, looking to the door, but the view was obscured by Logan and Patton. He then pointed to Joan and Talyn, both seventeen at the moment, and carefully moved them into the kitchen. It was a risk, but just in case, he wanted only those over eighteen to be there, so technically… nothing could come of it. Remy frowned, shaking his head when Roman tried to move him as well, attaching himself to Virgil’s side. 

“I’m not quite sure, but it’s been the accusations, and we have to check on those things.” Roman frowned, moving over to them. 

“Everything alright?” he asked, and Declyn pointed. 

“That’s one of them. One of the runaways I saw helping these two.” He leaned back a bit, smirking slightly. The cop looked over, frowning. 

“Son, I need you-” 

“I can’t be a runaway, sir.” Roman smiled softly. “I’m eighteen, and therefore, technically, an adult, therefore, not a runaway. If you want more proof, I’ve been working down at the Theater on the corner of Main and Harvey, they can confirm whatever you need!” Roman smiled kindly, and enjoyed watching the overconfident smirk fall from Declyn’s face. 

“Well, we still need to search the house for Remmilard,” the cop said, moving to step inside, and Logan put a hand out. 

“I’d much prefer you not enter our home, thank you.” Logan smiled kindly, their eyes narrowing a bit. 

“I’m sorry sir, but-” 

“I’m not consenting to you entering our home at this time. We were in the middle of something, and I’d rather you not ruin it by destroying things in a fruitless search. I can tell you here and now, we do not have any Remmilard in this household. Besides, I am not a ‘sir’, and I ask that you don’t call me that.” Logan snarked, knowing full well he often presented as male. They just… They had to stall for them, to keep them safe. The officer blinked once. 

“Uh, I-I’m sorry ma’am-” 

“I am… astonished right now.” Logan muttered, looking at Patton a moment. “Ma’am. That’s a new one.” They shook their head a moment, looking back at the officer. “No matter what you call me, even if it’s incredibly wrong, and disrespectful to refer to me as something I have said I am not, you cannot come into this home.” The officer sputtered, confused, and the other took over for her quickly. 

Virgil and Remy glanced at one another, before Remy’s face broke out into a grin, and he tugged Virgil down to whisper in his ear, just as Thomas stood, moving into the kitchen quietly to check over them and make sure the other two were alright for now. Virgil blinked, then nodded slightly, glancing over at them. He really hoped they would forgive him for this. 

They moved over together, Remy rubbing at his eyes under his glasses. “Papa? Dad? What’s going on?” 

All three flipped around to see them, and Declyn grinned. “There he is.” 

Remy stared a moment, then tilted his head, before innocently asking, “who are you?” 

Declyn’s face fell. “I’m your father, you know this Remmilard.” 

“My name’s Remy. I dunno who would name their kid ‘Remmilard’ unless they wanted that poor kid to get punched every day for years… and you’re not my dad. They’re dad.” He pointed to Logan. “And he’s papa!” He pointed to Patton, tilting his head a bit. 

“Stop playing these games, Remmilard, and come here. Now.” 

Remy frowned, holding onto Virgil tightly. “Virge…” he mumbled, hiding his face in his side. Virgil glared a moment. 

“Look, I don’t know who you are, but you can’t just come here and scare my little brother like that, okay? Why are you here? No one here knows you!” Virgil hugged Remy close to him, looking around, feigning fear and confusion. 

The cops glanced at Declyn, raising an eyebrow. “What did you say your name was again?” 

Declyn frowned a moment, then narrowed his eyes. “David…” Virgil barely held in a snicker. Watching him get caught in a lie might be the best thing that ever happened to him. Ever. Remy was still hiding, mostly to mask the beaming smile across his face. 

“Yeah… we’re gonna need to check that real quick.” The cop glanced over at the little group at the door. “Listen, if his identity checks out, we’ll be back, but if not, don’t worry about us. Have a nice day.” They stepped away, and Logan carefully shut the door, before turning to look back at the two kids, just as they whooped. Virgil lifted Remy, spinning him in a hug quickly. Remy was beaming, cheeks red from the smile, looking over at the other three. 

“Sorry, but… I thought it was worth a try. Cops usually listen to the scared kid more than that adult who’s getting aggressive over it.” Remy laughed, the most carefree they’d ever seen him before. 

“He ran it past me and I thought… it’s worth a try… if nothing else fails, well, I was on track for a really long time, I could distract them with running.” Virgil smiled softly, setting Remy down, watching him fix his sunglasses a moment. 

Patton was silent, before he beamed, opening his arms quickly. “That was fantastic!” He laughed, hesitating before hugging Virgil, after the slight nod the other had given him. He was surprised to find the hug being joined by Remy, and soon enough Roman, and even Logan slipped in. 

“Oh, what? Group hug and you’re leaving us out?” Joan’s voice rang through the living room, and Patton’s face popped up, eyes shining.

“C’mon kiddos! It’s hug time!” Patton laughed, shifting a bit to free an arm to latch onto the three as they moved over from the kitchen. 

For a moment, they stood there, a family still forming, and just smiled, relieved. They knew that Declyn’s identity wouldn’t check out, they wouldn’t be back, and now… now they were just happy. Happy, safe, and together. 

Patton pulled away after a moment. “So. Who wants to finish up that cake?” 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Virgil groaned lowly, getting up just as his alarm rang. The angry pounding of it annoyed him, but he had to get Remy to school, and his workplace, as tolerant as they were, wouldn’t let him be late all that often. Besides, it was fun anyway. He liked the kids. 

Roman whined lowly, looping an arm around Virgil’s waist and tugging him back down as he tried to get up. “Noo… cuddles…” Roman mumbled, whining lowly. Virgil snorted softly, patting his head. 

“C’mon, I got work to do. Got to get Remy to school. Gotta shower.” Roman kept whining. “Fine. I… won’t work overtime today. But that’s the reward for an entire week, alright?” Roman sighed lowly, then shifted, moving away. 

“Fine… I guess that works,” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes, then smiled up at him a moment, that sleepy smile Virgil could never get enough of. Virgil smiled softly, kissing Roman’s forehead, before getting up and moving into the bathroom quietly. Remy was awake, eating breakfast with Patton, who was currently working on a batch of cookies for a client. 

Roman came down after a bit, smiling softly, still in pajamas. He no longer slept all that well alone anymore, not that he minded, not yet anyways. At least he still had Virgil to cuddle. “Hey Padre, Sleeping Beauty.” He settled in his spot, Patton pausing on mixing frosting to move over and plate food for him. Roman thanked him lowly as he started eating, before looking over at Remy. “You ready for seventh grade, kid?” he asked. 

Remy shrugged a shoulder. He was still a bit nervous around him, but it was getting better since he and Roman started bonding. 

“You taking up Drama productions like I said?” He hummed, leaning over. Remy smiled softly and nodded. 

“Yeah. Thought they might be fun. Besides, you said I had a natural talent for it, so… maybe one day you and I can work together on something!” Remy grinned at him a moment, and Roman beamed back at him. 

“’Course! Any time!” 

“Don’t be stealing my brother, Minute Rice.” Virgil said, rounding the corner, drying his hair off, and smiling softly. Roman looked over at him. 

“That’s a new one.” 

“You wear white and you’re a basic bitch.” 

“Babe!” 

“I still love you, jeez.” Virgil moved over and kissed his forehead, before leaving to drop his towel and get his shoes. Remy hopped down from his spot, moving over to the sink to rinse his plate off as he did. Roman smiled, finishing up breakfast and getting Patton to ramble about the current order he was filling.

Virgil popped back downstairs, then looked over at Roman a moment, kissing the top of his head. “See ya tonight.” 

“Don’t forget, American Suiteheart, you promised not to stay over time.” Roman teased softly, and Virgil smiled. 

“I know, I know. C’mon Rem’s, we don’t want you being late.” Virgil stepped outside, going to an old pick-up, hopping in as Remy did, smiling a bit. 

Maybe life wouldn’t always be this good, maybe one day it would all fall apart around them, but for now, the two brothers could be content. They were finally, truly happy, and all they wanted to do for now was enjoy it the only way they knew how. 

Together.


End file.
